Quote:
Originally Posted by jvriezen
Since the thread is revived, a clarification on the answer to the original question... As Inspector at 10K Lakes, I worked with a team that built a bridge tipper very simply. It was simply a standard wedge arm on a pivot, that was held just past vertical by gravity. A little movement of the robot, and it fell forward. A gate latch kept it down once it fell. No motor, no pneumatics, just the simplest of simple machines.
I never actually saw it in action, but I heard it worked marvelously well. I hope no one ran into it though....
|
Gate latches work wonderfully for tipping the bridge. That is unless you wish to retract your manipulator. We had latches, and after the system was broken in, it got to the point where it became nearly impossible to retract the ramp lowerer (costing us a finals match, and possibly a regional win). At our last event we ended up scrapping the latches and the power of the Van Door motor was enough to get the ramp down.